Pakistan: A Secular State??

My God, you maybe thinking, this guy has really lost it now, what does he wants? What nonsense he keeps on writing? First he was teaching us about our Islam, and then he was spreading rubbish about beards and now, this? This is too much, you must be saying, this guy is a public nuisance and ought to be locked up pronto before our children read this. Pakistan was created in the name of Islam and he is now claiming it as a secular state? Blasphemy, you may shout out aloud, who the hell he thinks he is? Amrikan agent, saala!

This is indeed an alien idea to many of us but the point of writing the above paragraph is that I know what people think about this subject and no doubt many will find it outright appalling but, yes, I will write about it and shall try to give my arguments as to what we stand to lose if we do consider Pakistan as a secular state for arguments’ sake. And no, I am not an American agent as I feel brother Hussain Obama’s recession right in my pocket and the traffic on my blog suggests that I have yet to make a single cent for what I have written. So now we can get down to business.

“You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the State…. You will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State.”

[Aug 11, 1947, Quaid-e-Azam M. A.Jinnah’s address to the First Constituent Assembly]

Oh well, so the great Quaid said this, so what? Can’t he be wrong for once? Was he not a lawyer and a politician first? Maybe he was just playing to the masses; you have a right to think that. But let’s go through the various arguments given against Pakistan being a secular state.

Pakistan was created in the name of Allah as a separate nation for the Muslims, is one of the point that is often raised. By declaring Pakistan secular (Naouzobillah) will lead to nudity and obscenity in the streets as it will drive our children away from Islam, is yet another argument. This will halt propagation of Islam in the world, as Muslims it is our primary duty to spread Islam in the four corners of the world, is often said. There may be hundreds of other arguments but just to keep this essay short and readable, I will try to give my point of view.

Yes indeed, Pakistan was created to safeguard the rights of Muslims in the subcontinent but we must also realize the Muslims were coexisting with all other religions in united India for centuries but did this coexistence made our forefathers lose the faith in Islam? We should also remember that Mr. Jinnah started the Pakistan movement only after he realized that the rights of a Muslims minority in India will be at stake in the face of growing Hindu nationalism in a united India and soon after the creation of Pakistan he gave the speech in the assembly. Otherwise he could have simply told the minorities in Pakistan to leave. We should also consider that by claiming Pakistan as an Islamic state are we not taking away the rights of so many minorities living in our country and giving the same message which the Hindus gave us before creation of Pakistan? We should know that Pakistan was indeed a liberal country till Zia’s regime. Lastly, we should consider our religion is not so weak that it will not stand the test of time.

Young generation will lose their way if we allow the virus of secularism into our ranks, is a very weak argument. Unfortunately, our generation has been trumpeting our version of Islam for so long now and has this propaganda made us any better a society? I have a serious doubt. Instead, we should put some trust our younger generation as I see in them better humans and better Muslims than us. Morality is already at its lowest, I think, can it go down any further?

By showing a gun trotting and a myopic version of Islam has not helped our cause to propagate Islam in the west. We have made enemies rather than friends this way, should we not consider revising our strategy and show a more humane approach? Would we not inspire others if we show our society to be better?

Again, I quote the great Mr. Jinnah to end my lengthy essay:

"Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic state to be ruled by priests with a divine mission. We have many non-Muslims-Hindus, Christians and Parsis – but they are all Pakistanis. They will enjoy the same rights and privileges as any other citizens and will play their rightful part in the affairs of Pakistan."
[Feb. 1948, Quaid-e-Azam M. A. Jinnah’s broadcast address to the people of the United States of America]

Indeed, we the Muslims of Pakistan, have a lot of soul searching to do to separate facts from fiction. May Allah have mercy on our souls.

The Quran 101

I have often read that the Quran should not be read without the guidance of a learned moulvi. It has also been written that by reading the Quran without such guidance one can become ‘gumrah’ and may forever lose his soul to the devil. So, being an eternal rebel and a reader, I decided to take this risk. Whether I lost my soul or not, I leave for you guys to decide but I would definitely like to share why I consider this Book to be truly sacred and a gift from God to mankind.

First of all, it was very puzzling for me to think that a book which was meant to challenge the intellect of a nomad sitting right in the middle of a desert almost 1500 years ago cannot be understood by a modern man, is it so complicated? If a man is at risk of losing his soul by reading it, then why make it public? If I do accept that it is complicated then why did our Prophet (SW) and his companions took so much pain to compile and write it down? Why did they not allow it to be passed from one generation to the next verbally? What secret things have been written in it which only a moulvi can decipher and I cannot?

As I cannot tell you what I lost by reading the Quran, I want to share with you what I gained from it:

· In sharp contrast to what we have been told, in so many places in the Quran, Allah tells us to THINK about His creations and see things around us because in His creations we will find clues which all point to a presence of a single Supreme Entity; Himself. So when Allah is asking us to think then, why do we close our minds and label everything unconventional as “un-Islamic”?

· Every time I go back and read the Quran again, it opens some new avenues for me to think. Every single time I read it, it seems that I am reading it for the first time. It always gives me something new to ponder. No other book till date has given me this feeling.

· The Quran is based on simple facts; I have yet to find a single Ayat which can be termed as disputable or refutable. The Quran is solely based on logic. Here, I dare others to read and find something which they can claim as controversial.

· In so many Ayats, a single incident has been described and always from a different angle in order to highlight a different aspect. This is the true beauty of the Quran.

It is about time that we realize that the Quran starts from the word Iqra (read). Now if I lookup the word “read” in the dictionary, it means “interpret written material”, “learn something by reading”, “understand something intuitively”, “give particular interpretation to something”. So now you tell me, do we really “read” the Quran?

Sanctity of Beard

It pains me when I see very respectable Muslim brothers with long flowing beards, park their huge shining SUV’s right in the middle of the road because they are in a hurry to offer Juma prayers. It pains me when I see such people breaking traffic signals in Ramazan because they are in a hurry to break fast or in a rush to offer Maghrib prayers. I feel pained when I see a noble looking man with a great white beard breaking a queue so that he can be the first one in line. I see respectable man sporting a beard sending his son to Iqra School to become a Hafiz, yet he never had the time to read the Quran. I see another endorsing potato chips as halal and asking four million rupees, three shalwar suits and a pair of shoes for the ad (that’s what someone from the ad agency told me). I can go on and on here as the list is very long but I see………hypocrisy!

Big deal, you may say, we are Pakistanis and that makes us natural hypocrites but why is my anger specifically directed towards men with beards? Now that, is a very valid question and I will try to explain.

It is indeed very unfortunate that a very ‘weak’ Muslim like me needs to explain this but do these people realize that when they decide to keep a beard they are representing something sacred? Do these people know that by keeping a beard they are under obligation to God that their words and actions which should be inline with the teachings of Islam? Do they forget their obligation to humanity is first and foremost? Does their Islam absolve them of their duties to their society? Are they setting an example for other to follow?

So why can’t a “good Muslim” be a “good person” first, I ask? Unfortunately, Muslim scholars, thinkers and philosophers over the ages have only stressed upon our obligations to Allah while understating or altogether neglecting obligations to humanity. Only a few reformers like Abdus Sattar Edhi and Dr. Zakir Naik really stress that in order to be a good Muslim one has to be a good human first. As usual, these thinkers have often been labeled as non-believers by “enlightened ones”, for speaking something unconventional.

Do we really need some divine signal to make us realize that parking cars properly should also be considered as a Sawab? Or, that patience is virtue cherished by Islam? Or, that by stopping on a red light we are following yet another teaching of Islam; discipline?

Lets not embarrass ourselves anymore……lets think !!!!

Al-Asr

Surah No. 103 Al-Asr (The Declining Day)

This Surah has 3 Ayaat and was revealed in Makkah

In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

103.001
YUSUFALI: By (the Token of) Time (through the ages),
PICKTHAL: By the declining day,
SHAKIR: I swear by the time,

103.002
YUSUFALI: Verily Man is in loss,
PICKTHAL: Lo! man is a state of loss,
SHAKIR: Most surely man is in loss,

103.003
YUSUFALI: Except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy.
PICKTHAL: Save those who believe and do good works, and exhort one another to truth and exhort one another to endurance.

SHAKIR: Except those who believe and do good, and enjoin on each other truth, and enjoin on each other patience.

Surah Al-Asr is considered to be one of the most important Surah of the Quran, yet remains the least understood. Imam Shafe has said that if the people only considered this Surah well, it alone would suffice them for their guidance.

I have gone through several commentaries by notable scholars but almost all of them ponder upon why Allah has drawn the testimony of Time (Asr) in this Surah. The commentary by Zohurul Hoque & Husain Nuri do shed some light on the point which I would like to highlight and which in my humble opinion forms the crux of this Surah and which makes this surah so beautiful yet so easy to understand.

In the first two Ayaat Allah says “By Time, the man is in loss”. In my opinion, the testimony of time is sought because time is a reality and nobody can refute the reality of passing time. Here I am also in complete agreement with all the scholars who point to different versions of the word “Asr”.

In the last Ayat, Allah says “except those who believe and do good, and exhort one another to Truth, and enjoin one another to perseverance”. The verse affirms three and not four key activities that determine who would not be at a loss (in my opinion, the fourth one is rather a consequence of doing the earlier three). The very first activity is to believe in Allah or Eman. The second requirement is to do good (Amal-e-Swalihat). Amal-e-Swalihat can simply be put as to do good to one’s own soul by constant self-improvement, followed by doing good to humanity. The third requirement is to speak the truth (haq). Lastly, the verse points out to steadfastness (Sabr) one has to endure in the course of action for following the three previously stated activities. The literal meaning of perseverance is a steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement. So in order to escape the loss, one not only has to remain steadfast himself but also need to engage other people of similar beliefs to motivate and keep the spirits high due to discouragement.

Now coming back to my point, after Eman, Allah has emphasized on doing good (Amal-e-Swalihat). In my opinion, “Amal-e-Swalihat” are primarily and solely directed towards humanity. By specifically used the term “Amal-e-Swalihat” right after “Eman”, Allah has pointed out that salvation lies in doing good to the humanity also.

Now, why do we forget is important aspect is my question is to my Muslim brothers? why can’t we realize that by doing good to the humanity we are very rightly following the teachings of Islam? Why do we forget that by serving humanity we are in turn serving Allah?

Lastly, I would like to declare that what I wrote above is in true earnest and would accept all the responsibility for my words in front of Allah. So help me God !